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My First Memories of Raeann

I thought that it would be fitting to share the first memories I have of my baby girl, Raeann, for my first blog post.

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It was approaching 10 p.m. and the drama serial that we were watching on the TV in the delivery suite was drawing to a close. In strode my gynae, casually dressed in a T-shirt and bermudas.

“Is this one of those “love-love” kind of dramas?” He asked, gesturing towards the TV screen.

Within 10 to 15 minutes after he uttered those words, he was passing G the scissors to cut the umbilical cord. To my surprise, G, who had previously insisted that he did not want to cut the umbilical cord, took the scissors from him without protest and gamely completed his rite of passage to becoming a papa.

The doctor then unceremoniously plopped my baby onto my chest and she let out her first cry.

“Hello, my little Raeann. Mama loves you,” I whispered as I cuddled her and wondered who she got her pouty lips from.

The nurse whisked her out of my arms to take her measurements and the moment she was placed under the warmer, she stopped crying.

For the next half an hour or so, as the nursing staff cleared up and prepared to transfer me to the ward, she lay there quietly, observing the surroundings and activity around her with her eyes wide open. Now that I think about it, I imagine that coming into this world must be quite an onslaught to the senses for a baby. I remember feeling really proud that my baby was so unflappable and inquisitive when approaching her new environment.

That was my first impression of Raeann, wide-eyed and curious; and as she grows, she continues to approach the world, new experiences and new environments with the same wide-eyed wonder and curiosity.

Later on, when the nurse brought Raeann to me for her first feed, without needing much coaching or prompting, she zeroed in on her target and started nursing with ferocity. Midway through her feed, she suddenly stopped, arched her head backwards and looked straight at me as though saying,